Wellington tenant evaporated as economy soured

If you’re among the people wondering why there’s been no work occurring at the Wellington Row site in downtown Albany, then check out this blog post by Michael DeMasi of the Business Review.

DeMasi writes that the stall came after Columbia Development, which is building the project, lost a planned tenant — a company that was apparently new to the Capital Region but got cold feet about relocating here when the economy tanked.

The $65 million Wellington project includes plans for retail, apartments and an office tower behind long-dilapidated but historic facades on State Street. There doesn’t seem to be a timetable for when construction might resume.

Chris Churchill

2 Responses

It’s very disheartening to hear that after gaining city approval, and gutting a number of historically significant buildings – some of which obviously had the potential to be restored (e.g., The Elk’s Lodge, the CBA building) – that the developer did not have the capital in place and/or the proper assurances, and now leave the block far worse off than when they began.

I agree that area looks extremely tacky….just a big hole where you can see thru the building in an area that has the most traffic (pedestrian and vehicle) at some parts of the day than other areas of the city.